Christmas........What.....already???

I was trying to use up the pictures in my disposable camera, so I took a couple of pictures of the Christmas decorations and my tree that I put up. Yes, everyone knows that I love Gingerbread Men and my house is covered in them and candy. I didn't take a picture of all the decorations but you get the idea. Not really in the Christmas spirit yet, as Jason has been laid off from work (thanks to our lovely economy), but hopefully it won't be for long. Just keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

Dillon won the Pinewood Derby!!!! Can You Believe It???

Dillon Our Pinewood Derby Winner!!!! Jason and Dillon put a lot of time and thought into the car. Dillon drew up what he wanted it to look like and Jason cut it for him. Dillon sanded it and then Jason and Dillon both painted it. They were so proud of the car.
Taken before the races started.

Dillon and his dad waiting anxiously for Dillon's turn to race.

This is Dillon and Derrik waiting at the end of the track for there cars. Dillon had won every race and so had Derrik Weeks. So, after everyone had raced each other, it ended up being that Dillon had to race against Derrik, the other boy in 1st place. This was to be Derrick's last time doing the Pinewood Derby, as he is in the 5th grade and also his dad's last time too, with Derrik being his last son to do the Pinewood Derby. So his dad really wanted to win and they told Dillon that he was going down at the begining of the race. Dillon was funny and just said, "We'll See!" So this is the 1st race against Derrik and Dillon won. Then Dillon and Derrik had to race again and switched tracks.

And Dillon won Derrik again and then the Pinewood Derby was over and Dillon was the Big Winner!! We couldn't believe it. This was our first time doing the Derby and I thought it would be great if he could win at least one race, but didn't except him to win every race. I'm not sure how many boys he raced against, but there was about 10 races or more that he raced in. He was so excited. Now he gets to go to Nationals in February and race against the other 1st and 2nd place winners in the area. He can't wait!

Thanksgiving Feast at Lexie's Preschool

Lexie was an Indian! All the girls were Indians and the boys were Pilgrims. She cut out her own hat. They had a Thanksgiving Feast at school. Jason and I went and ate with her at her preschool with all her friends, all the parents and the teachers. It was so crowded so I didn't get any pictures of the feast. We had a good time though and she was happy to have both of us there.

Lexie was the line leader that day at school. What a happy girl! Her teacher, Mrs. Susan, was trying to avoid being in the picture.
See Lexie at the end? She did so good singing and doing the hand motions to the songs. She was the best of course!!! Before we ate our feast, the kids all sang songs that they have been practicing. I was so sad because my camera broke the day of Lexie's birthday party, but I was lucky I was able to download the pictures of her party onto my computer before the camera completely stopped working. So I had to get a disposable camera for her feast and I didn't bring my video camera to record them singing. But at least I got some pictures.

They were so cute! Notice how tall Lexie is? The tall Indian hat didn't help either.

Little Orphan Annie

Our beloved cat Annie died on Sunday. This was really sad for our family, but I think saddest for me. I really loved my cat. I am not a huge animal lover, except for my animals. She was the sweetest cat ever. She was around 15 years old. We had her for 7 years and wish we could of had her since she was born. She loved her tummy rubbed (which not many cats do) and she could never get enough attention (love). I truly believe Heavenly Father gives us these special animals to love and for them to love us in return. My brother gave us her when Kate was in Kindergarten. We weren't looking for a cat, he just came across her and asked us if we wanted her. Here is the interesting story of how my brother found her..................................

My brother was working on a building not far from our house and the people working in the building were complaining of a loud noise up in the attic. So, my brother went up into the attic and really thought there was a bobcat living up there. It was dark and all he heard of a load "roar" and she tried to attack my brother. My brother was really scared and he isn't easily scared. He ended up seeing that it was just a cat and then caught her. He took her to the pound and they gave her some shots, noticed that she had been fixed before, and checked her out to see if she was o.k. The pound was pretty full with cats and they asked my brother if he wanted her. He really didn't, but took her anyways. He then called us and told us what had happened and asked us if we wanted her. I was kind of like, not really, but o.k. We had just gotten rid of a dog because we didn't have time for him. But I thought, o.k, since a cat is less maintenance. When he brought her to us, I thought, "this is the saddest looking cat I had ever seen." She was skin and bones, her fur was dull and dirty and she needed to be brushed. She was dehydrated and couldn't meow. So since she couldn't meow, she must of sounded like a bobcat to my brother. I really didn't think it would work out with us keeping her. She was really scared. She had a huge scar, about 1/2 inch wide, that almost wrapped all the way around her neck. Her ear was chewed up too. We were really careful of her because my brother said she wasn't very nice. It only took about 2 days of her being with us and she was the nicest and lovingest cat ever. She really knew that she had gotten herself into a good thing and wasn't about to mess it up. Anything is better than living in an attic with no food or water. My brother said that there were bones up there in the attic, that she had caught to eat. We named her, "Little Orphan Annie." But just called her Annie. Every time my brother would see her at our house, he was amazed at how nice she was. And she was. We got a new cat, Molly, 2 years ago and Annie accepted her and treated her like it was her baby. She would clean her. It was cute. She wouldn't hurt anyone. She was the lovingest cat you ever saw. I am glad she was a part of our family. I will really miss her. It isn't the same without her.

Happy 5th Birthday Lexie!

My baby is 5! Here are some pictures of her with her family at her birthday party. She had a great birthday. She had a princess cake, which her Nana made her. It was Lexie's request. She wanted a strawberry cake with princesses on it. Lexie never eats more than one bit of cake, but she ate the whole piece I gave her along with her strawberry ice cream. If you know Lexie, you will know that Lexie LOVES strawberries. She will eat and eat strawberries all day if I would let her. She has always been that way. So that strawberry cake was perfect for her.

Trick or Treat

Happy Halloween My kids had a great time and got lots of candy. After getting done with trick or treating, we were approaching our house and it started to sprinkle rain. We were so glad it held out until we were done. It's finally starting to feel like Fall. My favorite time of the year. Yeah!!!!
Aren't they cute? Larissa and Kenzi came over so we could see them in their costumes and we took their pictures with my kids. They were so cute! Kenzi wanted Annie to have a picture with the kids too because she was scared of Dillon's costume, even without the mask, she was still scared. Poor thing. So she stayed far away from him in the picture.
Fashion Disaster Kaitlyn

The Bones
Princess Alexis

She really enjoyed being a princess. She made such a pretty princess too. Her birthday is coming up and she wants a princess party. What a surprise.

Kaitlyn got Honor Roll!!!

Congratulations on your 3.4 GPA!!!

Kate at her Honor Roll assembly.

5 Little Pumpkins Sitting On The Porch!!

We all had a really fun time carving our pumpkins. We had been looking forward to it, ever since we got them. We made some fun memories! After we were done, we made pumpkin seeds. We all look really tired, as it was almost bed time, but we are so glad we took this family time together.

Lexie drawing her pumpkin face before she cuts it.
Me, In deep conscentration.
Lexie carving her pumpkin!

Such a boy!
Got you Kate! You are such a girl!

Silly boy making faces back at the pumpkin

She was so proud of what she drew. She did a good job!

Lexie loved playing in the "pumpkin guts". She was pretending to make pumpkin pie and then it was spaghetti. She would stir it up and cut it. It was so funny. It keep her busy since she was the 1st one done with her pumpkin.

Gooey Mess!!!

Busy at work! This was the 1st year, I think, that they both did their pumpkins themselves. It was nice that we didn't have to help them. They were proud of what they did.
Scary!!!!!

Our pumpkins kind of look like us.

Our Famous Pumpkins

First Dillon named his pumpkin and I got it on video. Then I had the idea that all of us should name our pumpkins and make a little video of them.

So here they are!!!

Jason's Pumpkin- AKA Grumpykin

Mindie's Pumpkin- AKA Momma Pumpkin

Kaitlyn's Pumpkin- AKA Hannah Heartana

Dillon's Pumpkin- Knowledgeable Buck Tooth Beaver

Lexie's Pumpkin- AKA Pinkie

Harvest Day at Preschool

Lexie dressed up as a little harvest girl. I thought she looked cute and she really enjoyed dressing up. I helped in her class for the party. The kids did crafts, played games, had a candy hunt, played on the playground and ate. She had the best time! It was fun seeing her and all her friends having fun.

Oh Ya, and through all this, I turned 32 on Oct. 10... Oh YEAH:(

No pictures to share, but yes I am now 32. :(

With two years into my 30's, so far the 30's stink! This is the time where I look at yourself and think WOW, where did the 20's go and what am I going to do with myself now that I am in my 30's.

I did have a good birthday though. My mom took me shopping and she bought me a new shirt and a pair of pants. Then we went to Red Lobster (my favorite) for lunch. After all that, we went to her house and had cake with my husband, my kids and my brother and his girls. It was so much fun. Her and I don't really spend that much time doing anything together because I always have my kids with me, so it was really nice for me to get away and have some fun with her. We do talk every day on the phone though, sometimes more than once a day. But it was nice to just have some mom and daughter time. It was relaxing and I really needed it. Her and I need to do that more often. Thanks mom, I love you!

Dillon's End Of The Season Soccer Pizza Party

Handsome Soccer Boy!
The Team! Yes he is the only white boy.

Dillon with Coach Jaime and his dad Coach Jason! (Shh... Coach Jaime is on his tippy toes. He didn't want to look as tall as Dillon in the picture. Funny!)
Two handsome boys!

Dillon really enjoyed having his dad as his assistant coach. Jason enjoyed it too.
The team listening to Coach Jaime. The boys won all their games. They have a very talented team. Way To Go Boys!!

Kate Was In The Newspaper This Morning!!!

Last week in the newspaper I saw an article asking for parents to write in about what we as parents are doing to save money for costumes for our kids during these hard economic times.

The night before, Kate had gone to a church Halloween party and this is what she wore.

I was so excited that it didn't cost anything either. Kate and I had been thinking and thinking all week about what she could be and we dug into our left over Halloween costume tub and came across my mom's faux fur she wore for some high school dance or something. We thought that the fur would be great for her to wear. First we thought about her being a rock star but didn't know what else she could wear. Then I had the idea that she should just put a lot of mismatch clothes together and go as a "Fashion Disaster!" She went into her closet and created a master piece.

So this morning when I woke up and I looked in the newspaper there was Kaitlyn's article. I had emailed the lady last week but never heard back from her, so I didn't really think that she would use my story. But she did. Kate had no idea that I had emailed the newspaper. So you can say, she was pretty surprised to see herself in the paper. I thought she was so cute and she had such a fun time being a fashion disaster. It just brought out the fun side to her. Every year she is always a princess and has to have her hair and make up just perfect. So this was a big leap for her. I was proud of her!

Below is the article of Kate that I got off the internet. The newspaper article looked better but it was to big for me to copy it.